Friday, March 28, 2008

Being a Virtual Assistant I naturally use an online fax service. So my faxes arrive in my email in box instead of through my phone line. I love the idea of the internet based faxes and have been using them for years! Besides the convenience it is also better for the environment.

The company I have been using is Myfax.com and I was very happy with them (despite the $20 fee I was paying each month). Back in December something happened, I started having issues receiving faxes from some people.

My clients started getting error messages that said "A communication error occurred during the fax transmission. If you are sending, try again/or call to make sure the recipient's fax machine is ready to receive faxes. If you are receiving, contact the initiator and ask them to send the document again".

I tried faxing my Myfax.com number from my own land line fax and it wouldn't go through! I got the same error message. I had always been able to fax myself things in the past. So, I tried faxing to other Virtual Assistant's Online Fax services and it worked (except for the other VAs that had Myfax.com!). I spent HOURS on the phone with Myfax.com and then with Hewlett Packard because Myfax.com convinced me it must be HPs fault, then HP tried to tell me it was my phone company's fault. Nobody was taking ownership. I then tried faxing my Myfax.com number from two different Brother's brand fax machines and those wouldn't go through either!

On top of the HOURS wasted talking to customer support at Myfax.com, they started double billing me from that day. When they were trying to assist me (or convince me that they weren't the problem and it must be HP) they set up a new test fax number and assured me I would not be charged for that. The new test fax number did not work either and guess what... I got double billed $40 instead of the normal $20.

I contacted Myfax.com when I saw the bill and they said they would credit my account. I waited patiently for the credit, got my new credit card bill today only to find out no credit was issued and I was double billed again! They have over charged me $49.67 in the last two months and the service has been unreliable and my clients are getting frustrated that they can't get their faxes through to me.

I finally decided to cancel my account and sign up for Trustfax.com. So far, so good. Trustfax has been receiving my faxes without a hitch all week.

I've heard two other Virtual Assistants complain about issues with Myfax.com. They are having the same issue. People are not able to fax them consistently.

After I saw my credit card bill today with the double billing from Myfax.com I decided to call my credit card company and ask them for help. I was delighted to find out that my credit card company (Chase United Visa) issued me a refund and said they would handle the problem with Myfax.com! What a relief it was to get some great customer service. Not to mention that I am flying to the FoVA conference with the miles I have earned from my United Visa!

PS. I tried to send a fax to someone with efax.com earlier this week and that didn't go through either. It seems there is some kind of issue with HP and Brothers fax machines communicating with internet fax service numbers that start with 866. This is a new problem. I have a feeling me and the other two Virtual Assistants experiencing this issue are not the only ones having problems with Myfax.com (and maybe efax.com).

Saturday, March 22, 2008

My pick for blog of the week this week is The Viral Garden. The reason I started reading Mack Collier's blog was because he lists the Top 25 Marketing Blogs each week but I keep coming back to his blog because he always has a fresh new look at what is happening in social media world.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Since reading The E-Myth Revisited I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on my business and what direction I plan on taking it in over the next year.Be on the look out for some exciting changes at Virtual Simplicity.

At times like this, when my brain gets on overload I often take a break, grab my dog and head for the hills behind my house (the Marin Headlands) that I am so blessed to live in walking distance of. Another reason I am thankful for being a business owner. This is where I often spend time reflecting on my business.

I was delighted to see the first sign of the spring flowers beginning to show!

Did you quit your job and go in to business for yourself because you wanted to be your own boss? You wanted to have more time to spend with your family? More flexibility? More control over your own life?

Have you set up your business so it can run itself when you go on vacation, have a sick day or just want to take a day off?

Or does your business completely depend on you being there doing all the work?

"If your business depends on you, you don't own a business - you have a job. And it's the worst job in the world because you're working for a lunatic!" - The E Myth Revisited, Michael E. Gerber

Are you working for a lunatic or do you love your boss?

If you are working for a lunatic and are feeling stuck in the workaholic cycle and thinking to yourself this isn't what it was supposed to be like... I suggest you read The E Myth Revisitedby Michael E. Gerber.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

You know the saying 6 degrees of separation (or is it 7)? Either way, do you think those degrees of separation have changed with the internet? I do.

I just take for granted that I have friends ALL over the world now.

I agree with Dusty Warren that it is a small world in virtual land. Turns out one of my Virtual Assistant buddies that lives in Tennessee has a client that lives 7 doors down from me here in California.